The paper tumbled hastily from my loosened grip, falling limply to the pile of insignificant sheets bellow me. Ed's silence alone told me that he was fully aware of what I had just discovered, along with the reason behind his desperate attempts to prevent my ransack around the office being crystal clear- he'd known all along.
My breaths fell deep and heavy, my chest rising and falling unevenly as I attempted to process exactly what I was feeling at that moment in time. My emotions were hazed, as each fought for dominance over one another, begging for my attention, but that was occupied by the confusion that oppressed my head, an uneasy feeling spreading throughout each of my nerves.
I reached for the paper once again, scanning my eyes over his name repeatedly as if waiting for the lettering to deform into something that I could comprehend, but instead the letters remained there, bold and clear on the page as if ridiculing my stupidity for having not realised this before.
Ed watched me from afar, shifting uncomfortably and not having the words to accumulate an appropriate sentence. He knew that there was nothing he could say to prevent the self-destruction I was putting myself through as I stood there. My entire body was numb, so much so that if it weren't for the pool of water smudging away the ink of Luke's name on the page clenched solidly in my hands, I wouldn't have realised that I was crying. I made no attempt to clear my face from my tears; I knew that they'd just keep on flowing regardless.
My head snapped suddenly upward at the intonation of the door being swung open. Luke meandered casually into the room, the smile that initially graced his face at the notation of me being in the room being ruptured away the instant that he saw my tear wrenched face.
His body lurched forward, his mouth parting as he went to question my distress, though his entire body stilled as his eyes dropped to glance at the paper in my grip. His expression alone told me that he knew exactly what it was, with his whole face dropping, hanging lowly as if mimicking the shame his entire body was ridden with.
I slowly placed the file back onto the desk, a sigh being forced through my lips as I watched Luke with pleading eyes. He remained stunned, no words being uttered through his quivering lips.
My heals twisted so that I was fully facing Luke, before my feet marched forward, my exterior remaining chillingly sedate as I approached Luke. He watched me with caution, neither knowing what to say or do as my body came to a standstill directly in front of his own.
Mustering what little confidence I could find, I tenderly raised my hand to clasp the wrist of Luke's shirt. He flinched under my touch, appearing perplexed toward my actions, but I continued regardless and slowly tugged up the sleeve of his left hand to reveal the skin on the inside of his wrist.
My finger moved over to his skin, tracing softly over what I hadn't wanted to find, but expected to see. The skin had been tainted with a deep russet, matching the marks I had examined on his back merely hours earlier. The circle stared ruthlessly into my eyes, the skin upon my own wrist unnervingly shivering at the sight.
I sighed heavily, running my fingertip over the wound one last time as Luke trained his eyes on my face, attentively watching me in an attempt to grasp what emotion I was feeling, but this was something even I couldn't obtain myself. Tenderly, he raised his hand up to catch a tear tumbling down my cheek, his hand lingering to cradle my face as my eyes bore into his tear swelling pair.
With all the mental strength that I possessed, I forced my hand to drop Luke's wrist, letting it fall limply to his side as he made no attempt to control its movement and instead focused all of his attention onto my actions. I slammed my eyes shut, knowing that looking at Luke any longer would only worsen my desire to be within his arms again.
